


sad thing is, this isn't even that abnormal. its just another weekday.

by Werepirechick



Series: Alternate Dimension B-9374, or , The Age Swap Remix [1]
Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon Compliant, Dimension Travel, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Time Shenanigans, basically everything is flipped in the other universe and then exagerated, big brother donnie, big brother mikey, honestly its just another weekday, i had too much fun stretching the laws of temporal and spacial physics here, little brother leo, little brother raph, the age swap remix, things get weird but that's normal for these kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 11:57:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7891162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Werepirechick/pseuds/Werepirechick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“So… how old are you again?” Leo asked the significantly smaller version of himself, the one sitting across from him at their dining table, sipping from a can of orange crush. The kid looked far calmer than the elder Leo felt he should be about this situation.</p>
<p>“Twelve, give or take a couple months,” The tiny Leo replied, taking another sip of his drink.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sad thing is, this isn't even that abnormal. its just another weekday.

**Author's Note:**

> I had the thought "What if it was MIKEY who was the eldest?" which was followed by "How far can I take this?"
> 
> And thus, this was born,
> 
> I wrote this in the middle of a serious writing block, so I'm a little unsure of it. Lemme know afterwards what ya'll thought of it, and drop any sort of questions you might have, I'm always a slut for discussing my own AU's.

 

 

“So… how old are you again?” Leo asked the significantly smaller version of himself, the one sitting across from him at their dining table, sipping from a can of orange crush. The kid looked far calmer than the elder Leo felt he should be about this situation.

“Twelve, give or take a couple months,” The tiny Leo replied, taking another sip of his drink.

“I got two months on him though, Don said so!” The equally tiny Raph beside him interjected. He sent a smug smirk at his Leo, who scowled in response and shoved his red masked brother. The smaller Raph growled and shoved back, starting a back and forth match between the two adolescents.

“They’re. So. _Cute!!!_ ” Mikey whisper screamed behind Leo. “I want ten!”

“I’m not cute!” The small Raph spat, pausing mid shove with his Leo, and making a positively petulant face that was ruined by how high his voice was. “An’ you know I hate it when you call me that!”

_“Make that twenty oh my god-!”_

Leo pinched the bridge between his eyes; couldn’t just _one_ patrol go normally?

 

 

 

When a glowing portal had opened up over top of them, the four of them had thought for sure it was a surprise Kraang attack.

The two small and green kids that fell through it though, landing in a tangle on the roof top, dispelled that theory.

“What the heck?” Donnie had asked, lowering his bo staff slightly as he examined the new arrivals. “Are those… more mutant turtles?”

The two turtles groaned in response, and sat up to look at the four of them; their individual sets staring each other down. The red and blue masks had made it fairly clear about who they were, even if the weapons they carried were different from the older Leo and Raph’s own.

The tiny, underdeveloped version of Raph had blinked at them for a moment more, then reached out and started rapidly shaking his Leo by the shoulder. “Look Leo, look! D’you _see_ that? It’s us, Leo! It’s grown up _us_!!”

“Oh my gosh, it is!” The small Leo exclaimed, expression lit up with childish excitement. “We look so cool!”

“I know right?!”

“Uh, _ahem_ , can I ask you two, um, what you’re doing here exactly? And where you came from?” Leo asked as he approached the smaller versions of himself and his brother. This was a new one, even with all the insane things they’d seen in the last year and a half. “You do seem to be us, but. Younger?”

“Holy cats, you used to be _so small,_ Raph!” Mikey cried, bouncing over to poke the tiny version of his muscular brother. “I totally forgot how flippin’ cute you guys were!”

The small Raph slapped his hand away, growling at the excited turtle swarming around him and his version of Leo.

The bigger Raph was too busy laughing himself breathless to comment, absolutely losing it over how disgruntled the young versions of himself and Leo looked at Mikey’s enthusiasm. Donnie meanwhile had pulled out his T-phone, and was muttering something along the lines of temporal and spacial rules about displacing individuals through a timeline.

Leo looked down at the version of himself, barely at his plastron in height and still carrying practice weapons from the look of it, and he almost sighed. Couldn’t one night be uneventful this week? After the misadventure with Sir Malachi just two days ago, he’d been hoping for an average patrol. “So I guess… you guys are coming with us then?”

 

 

 

“Okay, I honestly have no idea how they got here. I’m stumped,” Donnie admitted, adding another string of numbers to the multiple equations on his white board. Leo had relocated them all to his genius brother’s lab after feeding the smaller turtles, hoping Donnie had made some progress with the what/why/and how of things. Apparently he hadn’t. “By all reason, this shouldn’t even be possible, I mean, time travel?? That’s the stuff of science fiction, and I’m honestly offended I have to work with nothing but theoretical outlines right now. Anyways, I’m fairly certain having two versions of the same person in the same moment in time isn’t safe, considering the potential effects on the timeline-”

“We’re not from the past; everything is too mixed up here for that ta be it,” The small Raph said loudly, rocking back and forth on the lab stool he’d been put on. “This isn’t _anything_ like our world. You an’ Mike are too young, an’ me an’ Leo are too old.”

“We’re too young and you’re too old- what? I don’t understand,” Donnie turned away from his work to look at the young version of his older brother, just as thrown by the new information as elder Leo felt. “Can you elaborate a little on that?”

Leo crossed his arms, leaning onto the desk beside his younger counter part and watching their reactions. Now he was curious too. “What do you mean, ‘too old’ and ‘too young’?”

Little Leo shifted on his stool, running his hands over the blade of his practice kamas; which was almost as weird as his age was to teenage Leo, since Leo hadn’t used anything besides katanas since his was even younger than eleven. The tiny version of him cleared his throat, and started explaining. “Well, you and Mike are a bunch older than us where we come from. I’m the youngest and Mike’s the eldest. Dunno why your world has us all the same age.”

“What? I’m the _youngest?_ ” Leo asked, more than vaguely horrified by the thought. When the little version of him nodded, Leo choked on a laugh. “That’s ridiculous; Mikey would be a _terrible_ older brother.”

“Hey! I resent that!” Mikey exclaimed, kicking his wheeled chair into another spin. “I could totally do it; I’d be an _awesome_ older bro.”

“You can hardly handle bein’ the youngest brother, how the hell would you handle bein’ the eldest?” Raph said as he kicked Mikey’s chair, sending him rolling across the lab in an uncontrolled spin.

“It does sound unbelievable, but I suppose anything is possible in the multiverse,” Donnie commented idly, sticking out his foot to stop Mikey’s progression and save his brother from motion sickness. As Mikey stumbled away, holding a hand over his mouth, Donnie turned back to the white boards and tapped his marker against it. “If we’re talking multiple timelines, which by the way confirms the theory that every single choice event or decision has already happened a trillion times over and diverged the timelines thusly, creating multiple iterations all near identical or utterly different then _jeeze_ , that changes everything!  Oh yes, I can work that. _Much_ more believable than time travel. Now I just have to do some calculation about how you two managed to break through the dimensional barrier between our two earths, and then figure out just how much energy it would take to repeat or reverse the process… speaking of, how did you get here again? I don’t think you said.”

All eyes turned to the displaced turtles, both suddenly looking very guilty indeed and refusing to make eye contact with Donnie. The tallest of the brother put a hand on his hip and tilted his head. “Why do I get the feeling… it was something you know you weren’t supposed to be doing.”

The two preteen turtles flinched, panic starting to show in their expressions; and with a moment longer under Donnie’s gaze, one of them broke.

“It was Raph’s fault!” Little Leo exploded, jabbing an accusing finger at little Raph. “He’s the one who broke your machine!”

“Wha- nuh uh! That was you and your dumb scythes!”

“You’re the one who hit it with your tonfa’s an’ wrecked the control panel!”

“Not before _you_ stabbed the big flashy lights!”

“It was your fault!”

“No, it was _your_ fault!”

_“Nuh uh!”_

_“Yeah huh!”_

Then little Raph punched little Leo across the jaw and sent them both toppling off their stools. They grabbed at each other and started wrestling right there on the ground, ignoring the older turtles around them.

“Ha ha, oh my god, it’s exactly like watching you guys from five years ago,” Mikey laughed, taking glee in the adolescent ninjas and their fighting. He then _oohed_ as small Leo managed to catch small Raph in a headlock, adding applause as he cheered them on. “Go tiny Leo; show tiny Raph who’s boss!”

“Okay, break it up you two,” Leo said, stepping in to pull the tussling siblings apart and almost getting kicked in the gut for it. Christ, he forgot how strong they’d gotten once puberty started to hit. “Hey! Chill out, we’re trying to have a conversation here!”

“You’re not the boss of me!” The small version of him yelled, just as the small Raph escaped his hold and socked him in the shoulder.

“Aw jeeze. Raph, can you grab tiny you?” Leo asked, struggling to get a wedge between the two turtle brawl that had developed on the floor of the lab. Little Leo and Raph fought the whole way as Leo and his version of Raph dragged their counter parts from each other’s reach, the preteens both scrabbling against the floor to get back into their fight.

“So. It’s been established that their version of me was building a dimensional portal, and they might’ve caused it to destabilize and bring them here; great,” Donnie said, turning his focus back onto the white boards and beginning to erase the equations he didn’t need any longer. “Guess that means their version of me will probably be working on getting them back, so I’m thinking we’ll just need to meet them halfway. That makes things a lot easier then, since it means only half the work I otherwise would have had to put in. So if you all wouldn’t mind, I’d like some peace and quiet so I can solve this latest fiasco. Again. Like I always do.”

“ _Finally_ , I was getting bored of all this stupid science stuff,” Small Raph said scornfully, wrenching himself out of big Raph’s grip and darting out the lab doors. “I call first game on the system!”

“Wait for me, I’ll play against you lil Raph!” Mikey shouted as he raced out after the small version of his older brother. The older Raph followed them out, but at a sedate pace and with a disinterested expression.

Little Leo looked up at Leo, clearly annoyed by Leo’s stronger arms holding him up still. “Can you let me go now? You’re hurting my arms.”

“What? Oh, sure, just no more fighting okay?” Leo said as he dropped the small Leo onto the ground, stepping back as he did. He didn’t want any more blows to his knees or gut, those had kinda hurt.

Small Leo just stuck his tongue out at Leo in response, (had Leo really been that immature back then?), and then trotted over to be beside Donnie instead. “Hey other-Don, think I can help?”

“Hm? What? Oh no, no, I’m fine,” Donnie waved his hand dismissively, keeping his focus on steadily streaming numbers onto the board.

Small Leo seemed oddly put out by that response, to big Leo’s surprise. Little Leo shuffled closer to Donnie, getting right next to him. “You sure?”

“Yes, yes, now please, leave me alone…” Donnie said absent mindedly, gently pushing the small turtle away.

The small Leo remained though, just behind Donnie as the tall mutant began adding sticky notes to the formulas on the boards. Leo hesitated for a moment, but then put a hand on the small Leo’s shell. “Hey, uh, tiny me, want to go play video games with everyone else?”

“…I guess,” Little Leo replied, letting his older counterpart steer him away from their(?) brother and out the lab doors.

  


 

 

Master Splinter turned out to be far more amused with the situation than Leo had expected. When their Sensei had returned from his evening stroll, Leo thought he’d be at least a bit more shocked. Instead, their father had simply laughed and asked if Donnie had finally figured out how to clone them.

Donnie popped his head out of the lab right then, and exclaimed, “I never attempted that, and no one can prove otherwise!”

Leo made a mental reminder to keep a closer eye on Donnie’s experiments.

“I had forgotten, you two were truly so adorable once,” Splinter chuckled, looking down at the two mini turtles.

“You’re just like our Sensei,” Small Leo said with a grin. “Everything else here is weird, but you’re still the same!”

“Am I, little one? I am glad then, to provide a familiar face in this turbulent experience.”

“Definitely Sensei,” Little Raph whispered loudly to little Leo.

 

 

 

“So… where’s the small Raph?” Leo asked Mikey and little him. “And our Raph for that matter, I haven’t seen either of them for a while.”

Mikey didn’t take his eyes off the screen, continuing to beat little Leo at _Mario Cart_. “Oh them? Yeah, they went out a little while ago.”

Leo frowned, feeling trepidation about that answer. “And why would that be? Sensei told us to keep them here until Donnie could fix things.”

“Well, lil Leo and lil Raph started fighting again while you an’ Sensei were talking in the dojo-”

“It was his fault, not mine,” Small Leo said, also keeping his eyes on the screen.

“-yeah, ‘cause lil Raphie called lil Leo a couple words kids aren’t supposed to say, and started up that fight about who did what in other-Donnie’s lab. Then Raph, our Raph, got pissed off ‘cause small him almost broke the tv with his tonfa’s, and might’ve whacked both of them over the head-”

“Which hurt. A lot.”

“-and then small Raph said even _more_ words he’s probs not allowed to, and ran off into the sewers. Raph went to go get ‘im like an hour ago or something.”

Leo took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. He couldn’t leave them alone for more than five minutes. “And you didn’t think this was something you needed to tell us?”

“Raph said only to tell if they didn’t come back within two hours.”

Leo sat down on the couch and leaned back, feeling annoyed and tired. Couldn’t his brother contain his temper just once? Donnie, both versions of him, could figure this out at any time; they needed to stay together until then.

“Do you know how Donnie’s progress is going?” Leo asked, looking up at the ceiling and wondering if it was really only one AM.

“Oh yeah, he did that thing where he blows something up and shouts ‘eureka!’ and stuff. I think he’s got it like, _at least_ a quarter ways closer to bein’ done.”

“Great, I’ll go get the Raph’s then,” Leo said, standing up reluctantly and starting to make his way for the lair’s exit, but pausing when he picked up distant shouting from outside. A few moments later, Raph and smaller Raph appeared from the tunnels, Raph holding his younger self in a football carry and ignoring the threats the kid was throwing around.

“-gonna kick your stupid fucking nose until it’s caved it! I’m-I’m gonna melt those shitty salad tongs! I’m gonna-!”

“Would you just _shut up_ , I swear to god,” Raph hefted the kid and dumped him on the floor, dodging the shin kicks aimed his way. “How the _hell_ are you so annoying, I was never-”

“You were though,” Leo interjected, not trying to suppress the chuckles that went with that sentence. Raph glared at him as he dropped onto the couch the tonfa’s little Raph had been carrying, a very clear message of ‘ _shut up Leo’_ in his eyes. Raph left the room after that, stalking away to his bedroom to probably get some alone time for a cool down.

Little Raph had already retreated to hide by the tv, hunched close to Mikey’s side as the other turtles continued their racing match on screen; little Leo didn’t fuss when he was asked to hand over his controller, so Leo supposed the fight between the two preteens was over.

How close was Donnie to fixing this exactly? Leo went to go check, but the sound of an explosion and a long string of curses floated out the lab doorway.

Leo about faced and went back to the couches. Maybe he should leave Donnie alone for now.

 

 

 

By the end of the night, Donnie still hadn't managed to solve their problem. That left them all with two sleepy turtles unused to being awake for so long, and in desperate need of rest.

As daylight started arriving above ground, Leo went around turning off unnecessary lights in the lair. Their guests were set up on the couch, buried underneath spare blankets already snoring away. Though the small Raph had fought against the bed time originally, he'd dropped off even faster than his version of Leo.

Leo finished dimming the kitchen's lights and stepped back out into the main room; he was surprised to find Mikey still there, standing in semi-darkness and watching the small turtles sleep.

“Mikey, what are you doing up still?” Leo whispered as he walked over. “I thought you went to bed already.”

“Just wanted to check up on 'em,” Mikey whispered back, in an actual whisper for once too. Leo glanced at his youngest brother, and found an unusually serious expression knitting his brow.

“You okay, Mikey?”

“Hm? Yeah, I’m fine. Just wondering 'bout something,” Mikey replied. He pointed at the young Leo, who's blanket had fallen off his shoulder. There were twin scars there, on the space between his neck and shoulder, nickle sized dots side by side and made of thick scar tissue. “Where d'you think he got those? You don't have scars like that.” Mikey frowned deeper, crossing his arms as he spoke. “Actually, he an' lil Raphie both have some pretty serious scars all over the place. We didn't start gettin' those until we were fifteen, where the heck did these kids get them? What kinda life are they livin' over there?”

Leo looked at the younger version of himself, childish face slack as he slept. There _were_ scars doting the kid, Leo saw them clearly now that he took a closer look; same thing for the kid version of Raph.

Leo scratched the back of his neck, unsure of what to do. “I don't know. Maybe it's harder there for them? Because if they're that young, that means their Donnie and Mikey can't be much older.”

Mikey bit his lip, worrying it with his teeth. “An' if they're fighting the same kinds of sickos that we are...”

If that was true, that didn't paint a pretty picture for the other universe.

Leo glanced at Mikey's expression again, his youngest brother looking genuinely worried for the kids sleeping on the couch. Leo didn't like that sort of expression on Mikey, it made him look older and tired; like how Leo sometimes felt after facing yet another disaster, and just barely pulling a victory.

Leo put an arm around Mikey's shoulders, giving his younger brother a firm side hug. Worrying was his job, not Mikey's. “C'mon Mikey, you gotta get to bed. It’s been a long night.”

“M'kay...” Mikey agreed, letting Leo lead them from the pit and towards their rooms. As Mikey's door clicked shut, Leo cast one final look towards the sleeping lumps on the couch. No sounds could be heard in their home, excluding Leo's own near silent breathing.

Leo closed his door and went to bed, leaving the lair completely silent.

 

 

When Casey and April arrived the next night, it took a solid twenty minutes to calm them down. Casey had to actually lean on Raph’s shoulder to keep from falling down, but did anyways when Raph rolled his eyes and moved away. Casey remained on the ground, laughing his sides sore at the growing fury of the small Raph.

Leo rolled his eyes like Raph had; their human friends were so reactive honestly. Though admittedly, it _was_ kind of funny to see Raph’s usual fury in compact format.

“They’re so _small!_ ” April squealed, covering her wide grin and giggling. “Oh gosh, Donnie, _please_ tell me you guys have been taking pictures of them. This is too incredible to go unrecorded.”

“Mikey’s been taking a lot with his t-phone, but I’ve been a little too busy to get the actual camera,” Donnie replied, awake only because of coffee and an energy drink. Leo patted Donnie’s shoulder, feeling a bit sorry his brother hadn’t gotten to sleep more than two hours before he went back to work. Currently, April and Casey’s appearance in the lair had drawn him out of his sciencing fugue long enough to say hello, and to get more coffee.

“You guys are pretty much the same as our April and Casey too, just like Sensei,” Little Leo observed casually, tilting his head so he could look up at April. He glanced over at Casey, who was still on the floor. “Especially Casey. Wonder why it’s just the four of us that are wrong in this world.”

“He’s so ridiculously cute, holy cripes,” April said under her breath. She cleared her throat, trying to regain her composure. “How close are you guys to getting them home?”

“Eh, I’d like to say halfway, but I’m still below the progress level I’d prefer,” Donnie replied, shrugging as he spoke. “I’ve got my computer programs hooked into a bunch of electromagnetic sensors across the city though; they’ll alert me if another portal opens up somewhere.”

“How does that work?” Leo asked, half listening to his brother and half listening to vitriol small Raph had begun to spit at Casey.

“The portals from their world, like the ones Kraang use here, create an ambient disruption in normal levels of electro-magnetism, which means I can track the openings. Sensors meant for checking the weather’s electro-magnetism will work just fine, which saved me from having to build anything,” Donnie explained. He sipped the mug of hot coffee he’d retrieved from the kitchen, flinching only minutely at the heat. “I went back to where these guys appeared a little before the sun came up yesterday. This morning. Whatever, time is irrelevant down here. Anyways, I took a couple readings there for residual energies, and I created a program to search for identical disturbances. If the alternate me and Mikey get here before I can get us to them, I’ll know right away.” Donnie took another sip of his coffee, blinking blearily. “It’s starting to look like it’ll be them getting here first. I don’t think I can build a functioning dimensional transporter with what I’ve got here, not to mention the mathematical equations and theory I’d need aren’t even invented yet. I don’t feel like inventing a new field of math, I’ve already done that twice this year.”

Leo had to leave the conversation there, seeing as small Raph had just kicked Casey in the crotch. The human was making wheezy squeaks on the ground as he curled up, his hands positioned over the abused area of his body while the small Raph continued yelling at him.

And that’s when Raph and Mikey took up the job of laughing hysterically, joined by a dry _“Ha.”_ from Donnie. April was the only sympathetic one, but only just; Leo could overhear her telling Casey that he got what he deserved. Small Leo just shook his head, clearly exasperated with his sibling.

Leo rolled his eyes, again, and tried to keep grip on the small but strong kid in his arms.

 

 

 

When Donnie’s sensors went off, not more than an hour later, the sheer relief on his face made Leo wince; sometimes, Leo forgot how much they depended on Donnie for his problem solving inventions. It really wasn’t fair, and they should probably give him more credit for those often lifesaving solutions. Expecting their third brother to create a trans-dimensional anything within the next few days was unreasonable, even by their standards.

“Okay, so the sensors weren’t perfect it seems,” Donnie said to the gathered group, pulling up multiple feeds on his computer. “The electrical activity pinged pretty much every single one in this area, here,” Donnie pointed at a map on screen, lit up with five different location beacons. “We should check this general vicinity, and they’ll be around there somewhere. Knowing, um, me and Mikey though, they’re probably on the move already. So we should go. Like now.”

 

 

 

Twenty minutes later, they’re racing over the roof tops of the designated search area; split up into pairs so they can cover more ground.

It’s a bit noisier for Leo and Raph, since they’re stuck with their alternate selves.

It’d been decided that it was least likely they’d lose the kids out of their whole group; even if they weren’t particularly happy about the arrangement. Both sets of they’s.

“Why do we have to drag these kids along again? They’re really slowin’ us down,” Raph grouched to Leo as they vaulted over an alley. The other versions of them were actually keeping up fairly well, despite the difference in athletic ability. Their weapons occasionally caught the streetlight's gleam, strapped to their small shells, light flashing across the metal and smooth wood of each.

“Shh, Raph, you know why. Mikey and Donnie would just get distracted and lose them. Or those two would just run off and refuse to listen,” Leo muttered to his brother, trying to keep the conversation between just them.

“And we couldn't just stash 'em in the shellraiser?” Raph grumbled.

“Do you think they'd actually stay there? And besides, this could be a time sensitive thing, like Donnie said. There might only be one chance to get them home, and we can't mess that up just because you don't want to keep an eye on a couple kids.”

“Like you want to do this anymore than me.”

“I'll neither confirm nor deny that statement.”

“You're so full of- shit, they're fighting again,” Raph cut himself off, skidding to a stop. Leo landed beside him, his swords clacking against his shell as he did. The smaller turtles were indeed fighting, their conversation apparently having taken a negative turn while Leo and Raph had theirs.

“Just admit it already! Don's gonna leave an' he's never coming back!” Small Raph yelled at little Leo, his fists curled tightly at his sides.

“He's not! He wouldn't do that!” Small Leo cried defiantly. He shoved his brother backwards, prompting the other mutant to return the favor. “You're a liar!”

“No I'm not! I’m just tellin’ the truth!”

“Liar!”

“I ain't!”

“He's our big brother; he said he'd never leave us alone!” Little Leo shouted, voice breaking at the end of his sentence.

Small Raph's face screwed up, and he punched little Leo in the plastron.

Leo and Raph finally moved to intervene, each grabbing their alternate selves and holding them fast. Leo's small self didn't struggle, hanging almost limply in Leo's arms. Little Raph on the other hand was still straining against his older self's grip, continuing to shout at his brother.

“D'you really think he's gonna choose us over April and Casey? Why the hell would he! They're his- his friends and we're just his stupid little brothers!” Small Raph shouted, kicking out at the air. “He's gonna leave and there's nothin' that's gonna stop him! An'- an' even if he- he wasn't gonna, he's gonna now 'cause we... 'cause I wrecked his stupid machine an' got us into this mess.” Small Raph went slack, leaning against his older self's stomach. He bit his lip, hiccupping as tears formed in his eyes. “He's gonna leave 'cause I’m a shitty little brother an' there's nothin' that'll change that. Me _or_ him leaving. So- so stop pretendin' he ain't gonna leave, it's just gonna hurt worse when he does.”

Leo wasn't sure what to say to that, and from the silence of his smaller self, the other Leo didn't know either. Luckily, the elder Raph did.

“What the actual _hell_ are you talking about?” Raph said, roughly turning his smaller self around and scowling down at him.

Maybe not so luckily.

Raph put a stern finger on his other self's plastron, jabbing the kid as he spoke. “If I know one thing about Donnie, it’s that he doesn't abandon anything; scientific whatevers _or_ family. So that stuff about him leaving you guys? Yeah, that's bullshit. I've never seen that guy give up on anything, and like hell would he give up on family.”

“Your Don isn't mine though...” Small Raph mumbled, turning his head away from Raph. The tears had stopped, but he still looked miserable.

Raph reached out though, tilting small Raph’s chin towards him again. “Look. If your Donnie is _anything_ at all like mine, then I think I got a pretty good idea how the guy thinks. And I don't think for even a second he'd ever leave you kids, not for heaven or hell; and definitely not for a couple humans, even if they're April and Casey. If you think your brother is going anywhere other than back home with you guys, you're dead wrong. Hey, c'mon, look at me.”

Leo watched as Raph put his hands on either shoulder of his smaller self, and gently squeezed each. “Your brothers are probably out of their minds with worry right now, and I guarantee when we find ‘em, if you ask your Donnie if he's going or staying, he's gonna say he's staying and never leavin'. Okay?”

Little Raph nodded mutely, and the elder Raph's expression softened. He bent down on one knee and held his arms open. “C'mon kid, you look like you need it. It’s weird as hell, but why not, am I right?”

Small Raph hesitated for a second, but opened his arms as well. Raph pulled the kid into a hug, and patted little Raph's shell.

Leo looked down at the still quiet kid version of himself; little Leo was watching the Raph's, a contemplative look on his face. Leo released what little grip he had on the kid's arms, stepping back from him. Leo kept his voice quiet as he spoke, not wanting to disrupt the weird moment their brothers were having. “... is that what you guys were fighting about, when you broke the machine? About your Donnie leaving you?”

Little Leo looked up at him and nodded, eyes solemn and serious. “April and Casey might have to go away soon, an' we know how much they mean to Don. He's been really quiet lately 'cause he's scared too, of them going away. S'why Raph thought Don was gonna leave I guess. We we're doing our chores in the lab, we’re supposed to empty the garbage cans, and we just. Started talking about it. Raph said Don was gonna leave with them, an' I said Don wouldn't, and then... well, you know that part. And then we ended up here.”

Leo reached out and patted the preteen mutant lightly on his shell, slightly unsure if the touch was welcome. “Well, if my opinion on this counts for anything, I agree with Raph. My Raph that is. I don't think Donnie would leave our family, not even for April.”

Little Leo shrugged. “Yeah, I don't think so either. Raph just gets scared sometimes of stuff that's all in his head.”

“Middle kids are weird sometimes.”

“Truth,” Little Leo agreed, a grin appearing on his lips. A few feet from them, the other turtles broke apart, the smaller Raph rubbing his eyes roughly. The younger self of Leo left him, walking over to his brother. The two of them stood there for a moment, small Raph nervously waiting for small Leo to speak; then, little Leo opened his arms and said, “Awkward sibling hug?”

Little Raph's expression lifted, the last of his sadness chased away by his returning grin. He lifted his arms as well, chuckling like this was an inside joke. “Awkward sibling hug.”

The two of them wrapped their arms around each other, patting each other on the shell and narrating the actions. Leo exchanged a look with Raph over the kids' heads; Leo's own amused confusion mirrored back at him.

Leo's belt pouch buzzed just as the kids let go of each other, and he pulled his t-phone out to answer. “Hello?”

_“Guess who just found his alternate universe self and co~. That's right, this guy!”_

“You found them, Mikey?” Leo asked, surprised how quickly the other alternates had been located. “That was fast.”

_“Just that good yo, I’m just that good. Anyways! Dee's texting the deets right now, ya'll better get your butts in gear and get here. Oh my god, other me is SO COOL, Leo, you're not gonna believe it!”_

Leo huffed a laugh as he ended the call, his phone lighting up with a text from Donnie a second after. “Looks like the others found your guys' family, we should head over right away.”

 

 

 

When they arrived on the roof Donnie had directed them too, the two sets of turtles are already talking amicably as they wait for the rest of the group. Leo did a double take at the size of the alternates, and he saw Raph beside him do the same.

They'd thought because the other them were so small, that meant the other Donnie and Mikey couldn't be any older than a few years. But instead, the Donnie and Mikey waiting on the roof were at least five or more years older; tall and very grown up, a confidence in how they held themselves that only came with age and experience.

Another question to add to the list of unexplained bits of this adventure, Leo _really_ needed to corner one of the Donnie's and ask about those; the list was getting fairly long.

As soon as their feet touched the stone of the roof top, little Leo and Raph raced towards their brothers, shouting, “Mike! Don!”

“Leo! Raph!” The older Mikey shouted when he saw them coming. He dropped to his knees, catching both his younger brothers in a tight hug. “We were _so worried_ , we've been looking literally _everywhere_ for you two! Are you hurt anywhere? Did you get any injuries from the trip here?! Do I gotta give first aid?!”

“No, no we're fine, Mike,” Little Leo said, leaning back from the hug to prove his point.

“Totally fine, we're tougher than that!” Small Raph added.

“Good,” Older Mikey said, sighing in relief and releasing his tight hug around them. Then he struck out, bopping both the preteens on the head. “WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING?! You _know_ you aren't supposed to touch anything in Don's lab, let alone have a freaking _cage match_ in it! We were so flippin' scared, you could've ended up anywhere in the multiverse! ANYWHERE! We've been searching for- for _three days!_ I was so scared we weren't gonna find you two! D'you know how unbelievably grounded you are?! It's not even funny how grounded you are-!”

“What? C'mon Mike-”

“But we didn' even mean ta do this-”

“ _No buts!_ I can't believe you'd do something like this! I’ve been going out of my freakin' mind with worry! I-I thought-!” Mike's angry expression crumpled, tears springing into his eyes. “I- I thought you might be _dead_ somewhere, an' that I wasn't gonna find you until it was too late!”

“Aw, Mike, please don't cry,” Little Leo said, tugging his big brother back into a hug. “We're sorry; really, really sorry. We didn't mean to disappear, honest!”

“I'm sorry too, it's my fault an' I shouldn'ta done it,” Small Raph said, joining back in on the hug. “Please don't cry, you're gross when you're crying.”

“Sorry, sorry, your bro gets kinda emotional, I’m fine,” Mike sniffled, clutching his brothers close. Another firm hug, and he released them; standing up and wiping at his eyes. “Just. I need a minute. Your turn, Don.”

The other Donnie stepped into the spot other Mikey had vacated, folding his long arms and practically looming over his younger brothers. Leo checked between his Donnie and the other one; there was at least three inches difference in size, what the heck.

“So. You had a fight, in my lab,” The other Donnie said, still frowning down at his siblings. When the preteens nodded, Donnie continued. “Something you know better than to do, and in the process of that, you managed to severely damage a project I’ve been working on for almost three months. A project that I had to repair almost overnight, then construct equipment to keep us safe while we travelled dimensions looking for you. I had to create a tracker for your specific DNA signature, also overnight, that would work in any environment we encountered. We spent three days scouring alternate dimensions and timelines for you both, worrying that if we stopped for even a moment, we weren't going to find you in time. Master Splinter is at home right now, and let me tell you, he's not any more impressed with you two than I am. None of us have slept, we've fought multiple types of apex predators, and it was all because you two couldn't be mature enough to keep your fighting in the dojo. What do you have to say for yourselves?”

“We're sorry,” The small Leo and Raph chorused, looking even more shame faced now.

Little Raph raised his head though, determinedly looking his older brother in the eyes. “It's my fault. I'm the one who started the fight. If you're gonna be mad at someone, be mad at me. It wasn't 'cause of Leo, it was 'cause I couldn't keep my temper like you guys tell me to. An' I’m sorry. So... can I be the only one in trouble?”

Other Donnie's stern frown melted, and he knelt down to be level with his brothers. “I'm not mad at you guys, I was just scared like Mike was. Something really bad could have happened to you both, and we wouldn't have been there to stop it.”

“We can protect ourselves, we got our kama’s and tonfa’s,” Little Leo spoke up.

“That might be, but you're also kids still. Me and Mike would've worried even if you'd had all the ninjutsu weapons in the world,” Other Donnie put a hand on each of his siblings' shoulders, expression serious again. “You know what can happen if we're not around. You both remember the things that've happened before, and could happen again. From what other me told us, there's still a lot of dangerous people in this New York, and you're both extremely lucky to have met up with the other us's.”

When neither of the small turtles responded, both of them looking down and shuffling their feet, the older Donnie’s expression turned into a tired smile and he wrapped them both in a hug. “I’m just glad you’re both okay, I don’t know what we would’ve done if you weren’t. But,” He leaned back to look at them both. “What were you even fighting about in the first place? _I_ know that _you_ know better than to get rowdy in the lab. I’m not mad, well I kind of am but not really… whatever, I just want to know _why_.”

Small Raph looked over at his elder self, and Leo’s Raph nodded an encouragement. The preteen turtle squared his shoulders, but was oddly quiet as he spoke, like he was afraid of the answer his brother would have. “We… we were fighting ‘cause you’re gonna leave soon, like April an’ Casey are. ‘Cause they’re your special friends an’ you won’t let them leave you behind, so you’re gonna go with ‘em… right?”

“Is that really what you think?” Don asked, looking back and forth between the kids in front of him. Small Raph nodded, and little Leo shrugged, and Don looked pained to see that. “Oh, oh guys, of course I’m not going to leave. April and Casey might have to go away for a while, but I’m not going to go with them. No, no I’m staying right here with you guys, alright? They’re my special friends yes, but you’re my little brothers, no way can I leave you two alone. Look what happens when I do, you end up in an alternate universe! If that’s what happens when I don’t keep an eye on you, how can I even think about going away?”

“So… you really won’t?” Small Raph asked, looking hopeful.

“No, I’m going anywhere, promise,” Don said warmly, tugging his brothers’ close again. This time, his smaller mutant siblings wrapped their arms around him, and held on just as tightly.

Leo crossed his arms and smiled to himself, feeling moved by the reuniting of their alternate selves. He supposed Donnie and Mikey weren’t too bad a pair of elder brothers after all.

“Awww….” Mikey cooed, sniffling like his elder counterpart still was. “That’s so sweet!”

“Shh, Mikey, don’t interrupt the moment,” Donnie hushed him.

“But it’s just so heart-melting, Dee, I can’t help myself!”

Leo could hear his Donnie’s fondly exasperated sigh, and picture the smile that went with that without needing to look.

 

 

 

“Thanks for keepin’ an eye on them, we’re really thankful,” Older Mikey said to them, his two younger brothers tucked close between him and older Donnie. “I know these little buggers can be a real handful sometimes, but they mean well.”

“Uh, sure, no problem,” Leo replied, trying to wrap his head around the fact that Mikey, or this Mikey at least, was almost taller than him. And the other Donnie, holy crap was he tall; he towered over everyone. What the heck had their master Splinter been feeding them in that other world?

“They hit us a bunch of times though,” Small Raph tattled. He pointed accusingly at the alternate version of himself. “Him especially.”

“Knowing you? You probably deserved it,” Don replied with a teasing grin, to which his brother stuck his tongue out at.

“Is now a good time to interrupt?” Donnie, the younger, said as he stepped forwards. “Because I _really_ need to ask some questions; about literally everything that’s happening. Please, I have to know, why are you two so much older than Leo and Raph? Not to mention the me and Mikey in this universe.”

“Oh yeah, now that you mention it your world _is_ really weird compared to ours,” Don said, taking a good look at the four brother mirror to his own. “Well, it happened because this girl we know, Renet, was messing around with time again, or I guess for the first time at that point-”

He was interrupted by a shurikan flying past his face, and imbedding itself into a satellite dish of the apartment building. They all turned to look at its origin, and found about fifty Foot clan robots racing towards them across the roofs of the surrounding buildings. There was someone running just ahead of them, and she leaped across the last alleyway between their buildings to land in front of their group.

“Hey, got your text, Don!” April said breathlessly, panting and grinning sheepishly. “I might’ve run into a little bit of trouble. Sorry!”

Leo had only a moment to take in the differences between the April he knew, and the one who held a sword and tessen combo, plus had body armor rather than just the shirt and shorts he was used to seeing. She looked older than the April he knew, and the most striking difference was her hair style; one side shaved close to the skull, and the other much shorter than his April’s hair was.

Then the Foot bots were attacking, and their groups closed ranks.

 

 

 

In the middle of the fight, Leo had a chance to look over his alternate brothers as they fought. With the extra amount of mutant ninjas involved, it was less of a fight and more of a work out; leaving Leo with a bit of headspace to think.

The biggest difference between the Mikey’s, beyond just their size, was that the alternate one used katanas instead of nunchucks. When Leo had finally noticed that difference, as the other Mikey was unsheathing them to fight, it’d surprised him almost more than anything else.

_The weapon of a leader_ , his father had said to him once, as he’d handed Leo his first set of real katanas. It set Leo a bit off his axis, to see Mikey using _his_ weapons and calling orders to the alternate Hamato family.

The other Mikey moved like a storm, cutting down every robot that got within reach. There were wise cracks and jokes of course, chorused by Leo’s own Mikey, but there was also ferocity that Leo had never thought he’d see in Mikey.

That wasn’t his little brother though, that Mikey was a trained leader who had small brothers to protect.

It was still vaguely unsettling to see so much power, skill, and concentration come from Mike, someone who wore the same face as Leo’s littlest brother.

The other Donnie as well, seemed more confident in his skills and attacks; moving gracefully amongst the chaos to slam his bo staff again and again into opponents. That one was a relief, to see that even with everything different between their groups; both Donnie’s used the same weapon. Their skill levels were different though, and how quickly the other Donnie could bring down an opponent contrasted starkly to Leo’s Donnie. Brutal efficiency and with masterful skills, that was how the other Donnie fought.

But. For all the difference between them, they were still Donnie and Mikey.

“Whoop, can’t catch me like that, dude. Try again next time!” The older Mikey gloated as he ducked underneath a triple sword attack from the robots, slicing their legs off as he went. “Man oh man, we haven’t done this forever! Casey’s gonna be pissed as heck he missed out on it, shred-head’s droids were always the _best_ to fight.”

“Please focus Mike, this supposed to be serious,” Older Donnie said as he decapitated one of the robots. “And watch your atom stabilizer-”

“-you mean _t-belt-_ ”

“-you can’t get home if it gets damaged,” Don finished, shooting an exasperated look at his brother. “Also, I never agreed to call it that. That is a ridiculous name for a very high tech piece of equipment.”

“Looks like a belt to me~!”

Despite the older ages and higher levels in martial arts, they were definitely Donnie and Mikey.

Their two groups mixed together effortlessly as they fought, probably because they all had the same training. No one ran into one another, even with the extra number of fighters. Out of the corner of his eye, Leo could see each of his brothers trading off partners; including the alternates.

Leo saw the older Mikey heading his way, pursued by two multiple armed robots, same time as Leo had two coming at him from the opposite direction. He met eyes with Mike, and just like that Leo knew what to do. The moment they got close enough, Leo and Mike dodged around one another, getting behind each other’s pursuers, and sliced their heads off.

The bright grin Mike sent Leo’s way was exactly like the ones Mikey would give him, and Leo found himself returning a grin just as bright. A number of thrown kunai distracted Mike, and then it was back into the fight.

Leo dipped and dodged, all the while keeping an eye on each of the other fighters. Another pair drew his attention, a certain tall brother and a certain red head.

Don stuck out his arm as his April rushed by, catching her just as she finished slicing off the arms of a droid. As one, they moved in tandem; Don holding fast on April’s arm as he spun her through the air, and April knocking over the robots that had circled them. When she touched down again, Don dipped her and grinned just as breathlessly as she did. “Nice moves, Miss O’Neil. You’ve been practicing that kick of yours.”

“Thanks, you’re not bad yourself. I noticed that you’ve perfected that new twist technique, very smooth transition now. You’ll have to show me it again when we get home,” She replied silkily, winking perfectly winged eyelashes at Don. “Shall we continue then? There seems to be a lot of robots still.”

“Oh, lets,” Don said with a smirk, lifting her up and spinning her back into the fray.

Somewhere over the sound of wrenching metal and clashing of weapons, Leo thought he heard his version of Donnie making something close to the sound of a drowning cat.

“Ugh, they’re so gross,” Leo’s smaller self muttered as he darted by, chopping off robot limbs as he went. “Every time, every single time.”

“Least Casey’s not here,” Small Raph said, acting as a spring board for his brother to jump up and onto robot’s neck; their combined attack bringing it down. “It’s even worse with him.”

“True,” Little Leo agreed, jumping away from the robotic corpse and moving onto a new target. “I wonder where he got to…”

Leo tuned out the conversation, focusing on just putting his blades through robotic chest cavities; the romantic whatever’s of the other dimension were not something he knew anything about, and he would prefer to keep it that way.

 

 

 

“I’m really sorry guys, I should’ve kept a better eye on where I was going,” Other April said afterwards, wiping sweat from her brow. “I was just really focused on finding Raph and Leo; I totally forgot to check which streets I was on. Ending up on Foot clan turf definitely wasn’t my intention.”

“Its fine, we needed the work out anyways,” Raph replied, stretching out his arms. Around their gathered group was a sea of robots in varying stages of destruction. Not a bad fight all in all, no one got hurt and Leo could see the relieved tension in Raph’s shoulders. They really had needed the work out; it’d been a stressful day keeping two kids both safe _and_ happy.

Other April smiled, flicking her tessen open and using it as an actual fan. “I guess so, but I’m still sorry. This was supposed to be a reunion, not a brawl.”

“I like brawls too though,” Little Raph piped up, sidling over to be beside his version of April. “Both are pretty cool. We should do them more often.”

“Brawls or reunions?” April asked, smiling amusedly down at the preteen.

“Both. Both is good.”

“Uh uh, we are going home and never doing this again,” Don said, gently cuffing his brother on the back of his head. “No more interdimensional travel until I’ve got things stabilized correctly. There was about a twenty percent chance every time we hopped portals that we’d disintegrate into separate molecules.”

“Uh, I don’t remember you saying that, Dee,” Mike said, looking nervously at the blinking device strapped around his waist; everyone in their group had one, excluding the kids. “We’re not gonna, you know, explode or nothin’ right? Right??”

Don rolled his eyes. “If we were going to, we would have already. You can breathe, Mike.”

“Phew, thank god!”

“So! About those age differences and the supposed time shenanigans?” Donnie said loudly, pushing Raph aside to be face to face with his alter self. “Come on, you’re me for crying out loud, you gotta know how badly _I_ need to know!”

“Well, like I was saying earlier, there was an incident with time-space particles because of Renet. She’s an apprentice time-traveler from the future -”

“-oh not time-travel again, time isn’t linear, it’s-”

“-relative to the individual who is experiencing it,” Don said, finishing Donnie’s sentence.

Leo laughed aloud at Donnie’s pure delight, his younger brother looking over joyed at his other self.

“ _Finally_ , someone who understands!” Donnie exclaimed reverently.

“See, I thought the same thing when I first met her, so I get your confusion. Anyways, so she wanted to see our first moments as mutants right? So she travelled backwards in time to see us, and, well, she’s a little clumsy at times with her powers and it- oh, hold on, I’ve gotta take this,” Don paused, pulling out his t-phone and answering it’s ringing. “Hello-? Oh! Hey Casey! How do you even have cell service, we’re not anywhere near our dimension…  anyways, we were wondering- what do you mean an elephant sized cow? You need a portal- oh? OH. NOW. OKAY GIMME A SECOND-!”

Don tossed his phone away, April catching it before it hit the ground, and he pulled a large remote off the side of his belt. He hurriedly jabbed a combination of buttons on the device, and then a flash of light exploded ten feet from their group.

A huge, rectangle, green-glowing portal hovered in the air, and a split second after it opened the other universe’s Casey Jones came speeding out of it; screaming the whole way. Then, his skates caught on a dead robot and he fell flat on his face.

The portal closed with a sound that made Leo’s hearing pop, and then there was silence, waiting for Casey to move.

Alternate Casey shot upwards, his bloodied hockey stick scrapping against the roof pavement. His face exposed and without ‘war paint’, unlike the Casey Leo had in his universe, and there was a distinct amount of mania in his expression. “Holy SHIT. That was. The moST AMAZING THING EVER!”

“I see you’re completely fine, Jones,” Don said, tucking his remote away.

“Oh I’m _better_ than okay,” Alternate Casey replied, wiping a drip of blood from his split lip. “This has to be the best adventure that we’ve had in weeks! I fought a rhino the size of a semi! Can you believe that?! We _gotta_ do this next weekend! Oh, hey Leo, hey Raph, nice to see you squirts are alright. You guys find anythin’ fun to do here?”

“Hey Casey,” They chorused as the teen came over, letting him give them both a firm noogie each.

“Hey…” Casey looked up and down at Leo and his siblings, comparing them to the ones from his universe. “These guys you guys or somethin’? Because if they aren’t, then I might’a hit my head harder than I thought two dimensions back.”

“They’re the boys, don’t worry Casey,” Other April said, patting him on the shoulder. “Your head is fine, Don looked it over, remember?”

“Just checkin’,” Casey replied with a laugh. He stuck out his hand at Leo, grinning wide enough to show his missing teeth. “Sup older Leo, nice to meet you and your bros.”

“Same here,” Leo said, shaking the human’s hand. “You look like our Casey, just a little older.”

“Yeah? Cool. Where’s your me anyways? I don’t see ‘em with you.”

“I sent them a text just a little while ago, they should be here any moment,” Donnie said, checking his t-phone for messages. “Oh, you know what? They are here; they’re just having some trouble with the fire escape. Gimme a second, I gotta go give a hand.”

 

 

 

When Donnie reappeared with April, leaping up onto the roof, the April’s took a moment to look one another over; the two girls circling each other as they did.

“So… I get a sword and cut my hair?” Leo’s version of April asked thoughtfully. “I love your jumpsuit by the way, goes nice with the chest armor.”

“I know right? I designed them myself,” Alternate April replied with a smile, patting the black chest plate affectionately. “You’ll get them too when you graduate to full kunoichi.”

“Why the hair cut though?”

“I felt like a change,” Alternate April replied with a shrug. “I think I look good though.”

“You really do,” April agreed.

While the two girls started chatting, a hockey stick was thrown over the edge of the roof, and the younger version of Casey hauled himself up over the lip of the roof. He stumbled to his feet, pushing his mask away and taking a gulp of air. “What is it with you guys and roof tops? Why can’t we do this stuff on the ground? This place was twenty- freakin’-stories!”

“If you think this is anything, you ain’t seen the Aeon pyramid then,” Alternate Casey said, swaggering over to his younger self.

Leo’s version of Casey jumped, fumbling with his hockey stick before pointing it at his other self. “Whoa. _Whoa._ You look like me. What the fuck. Just who are you?”

The older Casey grinned, waggling his eye brows at his younger self. “I’m you… but stronger.”

The other Donnie and April both snorted, and Mike straight up guffawed. Leo wrinkled his snout, what kind of joke was that supposed to be?

 

 

“So, what’s it like being the youngest? I’m the eldest turtle in my universe,” Mikey’s other self asked him. The two of them had separated from the group, much like everyone else had. Don, the other Donnie, had told them that he could take them home pretty much whenever, so long as they went before the power core in the portal gun ran out. They had roughly a half hour to talk before then.

“Uh… pretty sweet I guess? I get to goof off a bunch ‘cause no one expects me to be responsible and junk,” Mikey said, toying with the chains of his nunchucks as he spoke. “It can suck sometimes though, ‘cause Raph and Leo and Donnie can be sorta mean when I screw up too much. It’s okay though, not a bad life, bein’ the kid of the family. What about you? I can’t even _imagine_ havin’ to be the eldest. I mean, being so responsible like Leo is? Yikes, no way I could do that.”

“Eh, it can be hard, keeping my lil bros safe is a big responsibility,” Mike replied, shrugging as he spoke and making the katanas on his shell clack together. (That was so cool, that Mikey’s other self used katanas!) “Being a leader is hard work, but I think I do an a-okay job. You’d probably be alright at it too if you tried.”

“Me? Nah, I’m just the name guy and prankster. Being leader is Leo’s job.”

“Just think on it bro, if I can do it, than you totally could too!”

“I dunno… I don’t think my brothers would even let me try.”

“Tell you what,” Mike said, slinging an arm around Mikey’s shoulders. “I’ll have a quick chat with your Leo, while you chill with mine for a bit, ‘kay? That way, we can both spend some time with our brothers of another ‘verse, and I can drop some hints about your Leo lettin’ you try leading, okay?”

“Really? That’d be so cool man, I’d loved to hang with lil Leo a while longer!”

“Deal then?”

“Total deal!”

“Fist bump?”

“Fist bump.”

Mikey connected his knuckles with his other self, and was utterly delighted when Mike made the same explosion noise he did.

Other him was a seriously cool dude.

 

 

 

“ _Please,_ you have to finish your explanation!” Donnie practically begged the taller version of himself. He was desperate at this point; he had to know what the hell had happened to the other Hamatos in their dimension, and why he was the second eldest instead of third there. Also, he needed to know why his other self was so much damn taller and clearly in a relationship with his April. “Quick! Before someone else interrupts! Tell me your origin story!”

“Okay, you’re probably right about the interruption thing, so I’ll give you the abbreviated version,” Don said, patting Donnie’s shoulder to calm him down. “Long story short? Leo and Raph got time zapped about six years into the future just after their mutation. Total accident, but it had to happen in our universe; otherwise our whole timeline would have collapsed. Inevitability and all that. And because they got jumped forwards in time, they didn’t age like me and Mike did. So when Splinter found them again, they were still babies, and me and Mike were already close to seven years old.”

Donnie shook his head, that sounded completely unbelievable to him in every way. “That can’t be it, time travel isn’t real! Are you sure that’s what happened?”

“Pretty sure, seeing as I was there to witness it happening.”

Donnie groaned, because time travel opened up a whole new can of worms for him to deal with. Was the same thing going to happen to them? Did they have to worry about potentially collapsing their timeline on accident? His head hurt, imagining all the ways his brothers could screw that up.

“Okay, okay, other two questions. One, are you dating the April in your universe?”

“Yep, sure am,” Don said, a soft, dreamy sigh escaping him. “She’s my girlfriend, has been for the last… I think year or so? Yeah, we had our anniversary about four weeks ago.”

Donnie’s heart jolted with excitement, and he pumped his fists in the air. “Yes! I knew it! She likes me back! Okay, second question, why are you and your Mikey so much taller? I know you’re both older than your Leo and Raph, but you’ve got at least a few inches on me. Different sibling placement shouldn’t affect your growth rate. I’ll accept time travel, grudgingly, but not that.”

“What year is it here?”

“Two thousand fourteen, why?”

“Ah, now see, you guys are almost two years behind our universe’s timeline; just like I suspected,” Don said, pulling out his t-phone and turning on the screen. “See? Our universe is in two thousand sixteen already; your universe is progressing at a slower rate than ours. Our dimension is moving at a higher speed by comparison, hence the age dilation between us; in fact, we’ve probably been gone for an extra day back home, one that we didn’t even experience.”

“What? How does that even work,” Donnie asked, peering at the scratched screen and reading the numbers. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Beats me, I haven’t had time to examine the reasoning behind it. I’ve been a little too busy looking for Leo and Raph,” Don tucked his t-phone back into his belt, the buttons on its straps clipping shut over the phone. “I’ll figure it out later; right now I’m just happy to have my brothers back.”

“Is it weird having Leo and Raph as younger brothers? Their my elder brothers here.”

“Not particularly. They’ve always been my younger siblings, so I don’t know any different,” Don replied. A loud exclamation came from across the roof top, and they both looked towards the source. It looked like the two Casey’s were having an arm wrestling competition, and the older one was winning. Donnie huffed, that bone head couldn’t keep out of a fight for more than five minutes at a time.

Don elbowed Donnie, drawing his attention back. “Hey, unrelated question, what do you think of Casey in your world?”

“Um, he’s an idiot? Also, he smells and doesn’t know how to use pickup lines properly,” Donnie scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. “Nice to know April chooses me instead of him. Personally, I never thought she’d _actually_ pick him.”

“Yeah, about that…”

“What? What do you mean _‘about that’_?”

“I’m just saying, you should keep an open mind about romance in the future.”

“What- what. I don’t understand. Hey, hey don’t walk away! Tell me what you mean!”

“Can’t! No spoilers!”

_“Tell me what you mean!”_

 

 

 

“…this is weird,” Raph said to his smaller self, watching the multiples of their family interact across the roof. The two of them were sitting on the side of the area, along with little Leo and Mikey, the other two turtles talking excitedly nearby about _Space Heroes_ and something called _Gravity Falls_. He glanced down the kid, who at the same moment, glanced up at him. “So, what’s it like still being brat sized?”

“What’s it like being stupid sized?”

“Real mature, kid. Great come back.”

“Fuck you.”

“Right back at you.”

“… are you allowed to swear whenever you want? ‘Cause Mike and Don and Sensei won’t let me. They said it’s for big turtles.”

“I swear whenever the fuck I want. Except, you know, around Sensei. He’s a stickler about it.”

“Our Sensei’s like that too.”

“I’m bettin’ most Sensei’s are.”

“……”

“……”

“…wanna watch me beat your Casey in an arm wrestle?”

“Fuck yeah!”

“I knew there was somethin’ about you I liked.”

 

 

 

“This started out as a really bad experience, but you know what big Leo? It was pretty cool to meet you guys.”

Leo looked over at Mike, the older turtle smiling out at their assembled family members. Mike had a fond grin on his face, and wistful eyes as he watched Leo’s Raph obliterate Mike’s Casey in an arm wrestle. Leo nodded, trying to tamp down on the strange nervousness in his gut. “You too. It was weird, but neat to meet younger me. Sorry you guys went through all that worry though, I don’t know how I’d react if I lost my younger siblings across dimensions.”

“Eh, it turned out alright. They’re both still grounded though,” Mike laughed, his deeper voice making the laugh differ ever so slightly from the one Leo was used to. Mike settled back against the AC unit they were leaning on, laughter dying off into silence. They both stayed like that for a moment longer, listening to the commotion happening just a few feet from them.

Mike broke it just after the two Donnie’s joined the fray around the Casey’s and Raph’s, broken robot parts flying as the chaos increased.

“I’m glad, you know, that I got to meet you two; you and your version of Raph. Wanna know why?”

“How come?”

“Because,” Mike said, grinning at Leo, and looking even older than he had before. “I get to have a sneak peek at who my lil bros will be one day. And I gotta say, you guys seem like the kind of brothers I can be proud of. I’m really happy for them, ‘cause if they grow up to be anything like you two? I think they’ll be alright.”

Leo blinked, and fumbled for words, feeling thrown by the sincere praise. “Uh, thanks? I’m happy you think we’re, uh, the mutants you want your brothers to be.”

Mike put an arm around Leo’s shoulders, giving him a firm side hug. Leo let him, and was reminded of the exact same action he’d done with Mikey the day before. “You’re alright, big Leo; it was cool to meet you.”

“Same to you, Mike,” Leo replied, awkwardly slinging an arm around the back of Mike’s shell and trying to return the hug.

Mike squeezed one last time, and then let go; resuming his position with his arms on top of his propped up knees. “Oh, by the way, little me wanted me to hint about this, but I’m not really the type to beat around the bush. I’ll just get straight to it. You ever think about lettin’ him lead the team? Even just for one mission?”

“Uh… yeah, I don’t know about that. Mikey can be really irresponsible, I’m not sure if he’d be able to handle it.”

“Just try it, give the guy a chance to spread his wings yo. You won’t know his full potential till you let ‘im give it a go.”

Leo glanced over at his brother, who was giving a shoulder ride to the small Leo and charging after the two Raph’s, the red masked turtles in a similar formation. Leo slid his eyes back to the turtle beside him, examining the difference a few years and a lot of responsibility could make.

Maybe Mikey could handle it, one day in the future.

“I’ll think about it, but I don’t make any promises.”

“S’all I ask bro, s’all I ask.”

 

 

 

Don alerted them a few minutes later than it would be best they head out; the battery life was dropping steadily, and he didn’t trust it to get them home with any lower than fifteen percent.

Leo stuck out his hand, shaking Mike’s hand as Don opened up the portal behind them. “It was great to meet you all, is it okay if I say we hope to meet you again someday?”

“Not really, no,” Don said wryly, storing his remote back in his belt. “If we meet up, there’s a chance it’ll either be an accident on your side of the multiverse, or something went so grievously wrong in our world that we had to evacuate to this earth instead. But, the sentiment is appreciated.”

“Aw, c’mere lil Leo and raphie, one more hug?” Mikey asked hopefully, bending down and holding his arms out. Leo’s dopple-ganger accepted the hug, but the small Raph just crossed his arms and looked away. Mike rolled his eyes and shoved his brother forwards, pushing him into the hug with his alternate universe brother. “I only knew you guys for like a day, but I’m gonna miss you a bunch anyways! Be good for the other me, alright?”

“Yes Mikey.”

“Eh, no promises.”

Leo knelt down as Mikey released the two kids, getting to eye level with his smaller self one last time. “Good luck on your side of the multiverse, it was neat meeting you.”

“Ditto,” Little him replied. He held up his hand, fingers tight together. “High three?”

Leo smiled, and slapped his hand against little Leo’s. “High three.”

As their groups separated, Leo noticed that the pairs of Casey’s, April’s, and Donnie’s were whispering to each other; and when the elder counter parts walked away, Leo’s versions looked significantly unsettled. Leo raised an eye ridge, but decided to let it go. He had a feeling what those conversations had been, and they weren’t his business anyways.

“Later dudes!” Mike said with a wave, hiking his version of Raph into his arms; since Don didn’t have enough belts for them all, small Raph was stuck being carried home and hoping his molecules didn’t get mixed with Mike’s. (Don had said there was only a thirty percent chance of that happening. Probably.) The two of them disappeared through the portal, small Raph waving over Mike’s shoulder as they did.

Small Leo held onto alternate April’s left hand, and April held onto Don’s with her free one. Just before they entered the portal, alternate Casey slung an arm around Don’s waist, and Don put his across Casey’s shoulders.

There was that drowning cat sound again. Donnie must have noticed that action as well.

The portal closed with an ear equalizing crack, and the area dimmed back to normal night time levels; only lit by the street lights below.

April was the first to break the silence, clasping her hands together loudly. “Well! That was fun and all, but I’m tired and there’s school tomorrow and I _really_ can’t afford any more tardies and. Yeah. I’m going home now. I’ll see you guys tomorrow morning. Evening. Whatever.”

Leo turned his head, and just caught her disappearing over the edge of the roof, already clambering down the stairway.

“Uh, ditto that,” Casey added, heading the same direction. With his mask down, Leo couldn’t see his expression, but he could guess it was something like Donnie’s; Donnie looked, for lack of better phrases, shell-shocked by whatever his other self had told him.

“I’m… I’m going back to my lab,” Donnie said in a weak voice, rapidly blinking. “I think I need to do an overhaul of my assumptions about myself. Also consult some Wikipedia articles. A lot of Wikipedia articles.”

“Let’s get you home, Dee, you’re not lookin’ too hot,” Mikey said, patting his brother on the shell as he steered Donnie in the direction they’d parked the shellraiser.

“It doesn’t make sense; I don’t even _like him_ , let alone… oh my god…”

“Maybe we should check that kinsey scale thingy you showed me.”

“ _Oh god…_ _probably…_ ”

“What’s eatin’ him?” Raph asked Leo, kicking a stray robot arm at Leo as they followed their siblings.

Leo shook his head, stepping over the arm as he did. “Just leave it, I have a feeling we’ll hear about it soon enough.”

“Whatever, I don’t really care. Tonight’s been weird enough as it is; Donnie can keep his crisis to himself.”

“Wanna go home, drink all the soda, and watch _Space Heroes_? I’m too tired for patrol.”

“You know what? Sure. Mindless cartoons sound great. I call first episode pick though.”

“Fair enough.”

 

 

 

 

Leo settled comfortably into his beanbag, glad to be back in his own dimension. The other lair might have been an almost exact copy, but it just hadn’t felt right. Like everything had been on a very, very slight angle, and Leo had been tilted to the side everywhere he went.

_Gravity Falls_ flickered across the television, playing the eighth episode into the second season. Leo and Raph might have been grounded from patrolling and visiting Mr. Murakami, but Sensei had let them keep their television privileges at least. Good enough, since Leo felt like staying home anyways. It’d only been one night but… he’d missed his home, and his family.

Everyone was there with him, either on bean bags as well or sitting on the couches. They’d dragged the tv into the middle of the pit for the evening, so everyone could be closer together instead of spread out like usual. Leo and Raph’s bean bags were a couple feet from the couches, where Don, Casey, and April sat right behind them. Mike and Sensei sat just a little ways from the group on the couch, talking about something quietly. Leo was half curious about what they were saying, but the episode was just getting good, and he didn’t feel like straining to hear what his brother and father were discussing.

Just as Dipper and Mabel started to turn the tide of their fight, Leo’s focus was disrupted by the conversation behind him getting louder.

“-that’s really what Raph thought? That you were leaving?” April asked.

“Well, you both are going to college soon, so he assumed that I would too. I, uh, wouldn’t, but I can see why he’d think so I suppose…”

“Aw, what? We’re not going anywhere, what’re you talking about?”

“But- you’ve got futures ahead of you, and I-I can’t expect you waste your lives away in the sewers with me, there’s so many great options for you two out of state, and I’ve seen the pamphlets in April’s kitchen-”

“Don? Shh. Let me speak.”

Leo turned his head slightly, peering at the three teens behind him out of the corner of his eye. April had two fingers placed over Don’s mouth, muting him for the moment. She smiled, looking halfway amused as she lowered her hand. “You’re forgetting where we all live, Don; this is New York City. The rest of the country comes _here_ for school, Don! There’s absolutely no reason for us to leave when all the good schools are here in the first place.”

“Plus, you guys are all here too,” Casey added, tightening the arm he had around Don’s shoulders. “This is where the party’s at; no way would we leave you all. Way too much action to miss out on. And, you know, we ‘specially can’t leave you; seeing as we’re sorta a trio.”

“But…” Don bit his lip, avoiding eye contact like he always did when he got nervous around his partners. “There’s so much more out there than just here, don’t you want to see the world?”

“Don, we’ve already been to space for crying out loud,” April laughed, scooting closer against Don’s side. “We’ve already seen enough of the world to last a life time. We’ve got everything we want right here. So no more thinking we’re going anywhere, alright?”

“But…”

“No _‘buts’_ dude, just yes’s,” Casey said, mashing his nose against Don’s cheek. “Unless we’re talkin’ turtle butts…”

“Casey, that’s gross, Leo and Raph are right there!”

“Hey, you look at it too red, no denying it.”

“I don’t know what to say you two, I’m-I’m really touched, honestly. To think you’d give up all that-”

“Shh, I already told you we’re not giving up anything. Now shut that incredibly smart mouth of yours, we’re watching a tv show.”

“Why don’t you make me…?”

“I think I just might have too.”

“Room for one more?”

Leo exchanged twin looks of _‘EW!!!’_ with Raph, and hurriedly reached for the remote to turn up the volume.

“Donatello, that is _not_ a family friendly activity.”

“ACK-! Sensei-! We’re sorry, it’s, um, we just-”

_“Oh my god, I totally forgot they were there-”_

“Sorry master Splinter, we were jus’ showin’ Don here a lil appreciation-”

“Casey! Don’t say that to my father!”

“What? It’s true ain’t it-”

“C’mon Don, I stop watching you guys for like a minute-”

“It’s not my fault, Mike! I was coerced-”

“They’re so gross,” Raph said over the racket, voice dripping with disgust.

Leo sighed, turning the volume up again as the noise behind them built further. “The grossest.”

The clamor kept getting louder, almost too loud to ignore. But even though it was interrupting his show, Leo smiled to himself.

It was good to be home.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> So. This certainly happened.
> 
> Don't judge me for the pairing at the end, I'll use pretty much any opportunity I get to write the Capritello ot3; mostly bc if I don't do it no one will. It's so obscure, and I have a lot of love for the science+explosions poly.
> 
> Also, if anyone is wondering, lil Leo got those nasty scars from Karai; that mind worm stuff, and really just her whole relationship with him is a 100% more deadly if he's aged down and without the skills older Leo has.  
> Really any of the stuff that happened to Raph and Leo in canon is way more terrifying (and horrifically wonderful) to think about if they were like, Maybe ten-ish when it happened. Probably younger.
> 
> Child soldiers people, child soldiers.
> 
> Though. Its super cute to think of small Leo having the BIGGEST CRUSH on this slick deadly lady he met on patrol. Even if I don't like LeoRai as a pairing, especially in this context, this makes me giggle a lot; its so cute.
> 
> Just. Smol Leo and smol Raph, with their awesome and slightly overbearing older brothers. So cute, am I right?
> 
> The biggest differences between canon Mikey and Donnie and their older alternates, is their level of confidence and maturity. These are two versions of them who grew up faster, and had way more responsibilities officially given to them. While a lot of people don't remember this, in the 2003 verse, Mikey became an important leader of a resistance in the doomed timeline where his family fell apart. There's also the fact that 2012 Splinter has said a number of times that Mikey has the most potential out of all of them, and this includes leadership. If Mikey and Donnie had been the elder brothers, there would've been a huge shift in how things played out in canon, not to mention in how they handle themselves.
> 
> Without older brothers looming over them, and kinda tamping down their potential, Donnie and Mikey could've done a lot more as individuals and had way more growth in the areas they devote themselves to; such as Mike essentially being a master at martial arts in his 'verse, and Don having already reversed engineered Kraang tech so he can view/visit other dimensions. If they just had space to grow, oh the places they would go.
> 
> Alas, canon has kept them locked in fairly tight spots as characters, and won't let this happen.  
> I'm salty, oh so very salty, about the recent episodes/seasons, its just getting worse as we go along.
> 
> Here's to hoping the next episode is better than the last, Broken Foot. Check my tumblr (onthespectrumwriting) for why I dislike it, or hit me up for a convo about my opinions on it. Or you know, if you wanna talk about this fic too; I'm down to discuss it if you are.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for readin' and I hope you enjoyed it! It was hard to finish, but it helped me a lot with breaking my writer's block.
> 
> Have a nice morning/afternoon/evening everybody. ヘ(^_^ヘ)


End file.
